


times square can't shine as bright as you

by SweetTveitoPie



Series: prompts [1]
Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dorks in Love, F/M, Fluff and Angst, How does one tag??, It's cute just read it, Long-Distance Relationship, a bunch of the other characters are in one of the flashbacks, and i have no idea how to tag, and i'm rubbish at summaries, but not too much angst!, i'm shit at titles, mostly mindless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 01:51:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12244782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetTveitoPie/pseuds/SweetTveitoPie
Summary: Two dorks in love. Two cities. 3,625 miles. A six-hour time difference. An entire ocean between them.





	times square can't shine as bright as you

**Author's Note:**

> so i've been posting my fics on tumblr for quite some time now, and i've been on ao3 for god knows how long, so why not finally contribute with a work of my own? this is one of my favourites out of the one-shots i've written and posted on tumblr, so i decided to post it here too. also i'm absolute rubbish at titles (inspired by "Hey There Delilah") and i'm the worst at summaries, so pls just read it
> 
> i'm on tumblr too! come say hi! @bisexual-eponine

“Fuck shitty connections,” Éponine mumbled furiously to herself as she desperately tried to establish a secure connection on Skype by running all over her apartment before giving up and going as close as she possibly could to the Wi-Fi router. Soon enough, Enjolras’s face appeared on the computer screen, and Éponine was thrilled to find that he didn’t look as blurry as he did on other days. His face lit up at the sight of her, his brilliant blue eyes sparkling, and she couldn’t help but smile.

God, she missed him so much.

“’Ponine!” He seemed far more cheerful than he usually was today, and Éponine’s heart skipped a beat. He had never been that cheerful before. He had come close, but he had never been _that_ cheerful. “How are you, _mon ange_?”

“I miss you,” she told him, her lips curving into a doleful smile. “But I’m doing okay, I suppose. I’m getting by.” She laughed to herself, causing him to laugh as well at the awful pun she just made. “How are you, ’Jolras?”

“I miss you too,” he admitted, bowing his head and smiling rather secretively to himself. Éponine raised an eyebrow at his reserved manner but said nothing.

She reached out to touch the computer screen, wishing he could be with her so she could touch him in person. “How’s New York?”

“Oh, it’s fantastic as it always is,” Enjolras replied, adding almost immediately afterwards, “but it’s not as great as it would be without you here.”

A bright red blush rose to her cheeks, and she replied softly, “Paris isn’t as great as it would be without you around, either.”

The pair had been separated upon graduating when they were eighteen, as Éponine had chosen to stay in Paris to attend the Conservatoire de Paris to study dance, which had been a dream of hers since she was a child, and Enjolras had gone to New York to attend NYU. A little over five years later, Éponine had graduated and was working towards being a part of the Paris Opera Ballet Company, and Enjolras was attending the NYU School of Law.

* * *

  _"We did it! Guys, we graduated!” Cosette cheered, dancing around in one spot and evoking laughter from the others. It was late afternoon and they were all gathered at Enjolras’s mansion after finding out they had all passed, and everyone was in high spirits. Éponine walked up to her to pull the small blonde into a hug from behind, kissing her temple._

_“We survived,” Grantaire remarked, a huge grin spreading on his face. “We survived!”_

_“We still have university to think about,” Combeferre reminded them, stumbling slightly when Courfeyrac leaped onto his back._

_“Who fucking cares? We graduated!” the lively brunet exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. “Lads, ladies, we have a bright future ahead of us. I can feel it.”_

_“Pretty boy over here’s going to NYU,” Grantaire reminded them all, giving Enjolras a sideways smirk. Éponine detached herself from Cosette to walk over to her boyfriend, putting an arm around him as he did the same. She turned her head and smiled up at the golden-haired boy, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. She wasn’t that big of a fan of PDA, but on special days such as today and when she was in a particularly good mood, she allowed it._

_“I’m so proud of you,” she whispered to him, a dimpled smile appearing on her face when he grinned at her._

_“I’m proud of you, too,” he replied softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “You always wanted to be a dancer.”_

_“Yeah.” As a little girl, she had longed to attend the Paris Opera Ballet School but couldn’t due to her parents’ unwillingness and inability to pay the fees, and she had managed to earn herself a full scholarship to the Conservatoire de Paris. She had screamed when she found out she had been accepted, and she had wept when she found out about the scholarship. All of the Amis had celebrated with her, making vows to come see her perform when she was a part of the Paris Opera Ballet Company._

_“That was one hell of a year, wasn’t it?” the blond and brunette heard Musichetta remark in the distance. They turned their heads to look at the small girl, who seemed to be addressing Joly and Bossuet._

_“Tell me about it!” Courfeyrac groaned, still on Combeferre’s back and motioning for the taller boy to walk over to Musichetta, Joly, and Bossuet. “Truth be told, I still can’t quite believe I passed.”_

_“Well, you did, and now we’re all going to college!” Bossuet cheered, raising his glass of champagne and prompting the others to do the same. “Here’s to us!”_

_“To us!” everyone, including Azelma and Gavroche, who had joined in on the festivities, echoed, raising their glasses of champagne._

_“And to Enj!” Grantaire added, raising his glass in a toast to Enjolras. “Here’s to the marble man!”_

_“To Enjolras!” everyone declared, toasting the golden-haired boy. A faint pink blush coloured his cheeks as everyone drank their champagne before going back to talking amongst themselves again, laughing._

_“I’m going to miss you,” Éponine murmured, turning her head and looking up at him with a bit of a sad smile on her face. “We’ll stay together, won’t we?”_

_Enjolras kissed her forehead firmly in reassurance, responding quietly, “Of course we will.”_

* * *

“Will you ever come here again?” Enjolras asked, the corners of his mouth turning up in a hopeful little smile. Éponine had visited him in New York exactly three times, and every time, they were the happiest they had ever been in years. She remembered every last detail of how he took her around the city, laughing all the way, and how they went to see Broadway shows together. Their hands always seemed to end up being intertwined by the end of each show they saw.

“If I can save enough money again, maybe I will,” Éponine replied, laughing. After much crying and countless promises, they had decided to stay in a relationship, and though it was ridiculously hard on them at times, they promised each other that they’d stay together no matter what. Éponine fiddled with the silver heart-shaped locket he had given her when they were eighteen, and she opened it to gaze fondly at the picture of them inside. She changed it yearly.

Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper, and she murmured, “I really miss you, ’Jolras.”

“I really, really miss you too, ’Ponine,” he replied quietly.

During the first couple of years of long-distance, Éponine had been absolutely miserable without Enjolras around, even though the rest of Les Amis, Grantaire in particular, were constantly there to cheer her up. They made time for Skype calls every day despite there being a six-hour time difference between Paris and New York, and they never failed to cheer her up immensely after particularly rotten days.

“I hate the fact that there’s an entire fucking ocean between us,” Éponine grumbled, pouting adorably. Enjolras laughed, bringing a smile to her face, and he wished he could reach through the screen and caress her cheek like he always did whenever they were together in person. Her tone softening, she told him, “I want to see you again.”

“Patience, ’Ponine,” he reminded her, his blue eyes gazing straight into her brown. “We’ll be together again before you know it, and soon enough, we’ll be together again for real. Permanently.”

“God, I hope so,” she sighed, gazing down at her locket yet again. The moonlight streaming in through the window bounced off the silver, illuminating the intricate carvings on the tiny heart. She gazed at the picture inside—it was one of the both of them in front of the fountain in Bethesda Terrace when she had visited him last spring. Months had passed since then, and November was almost at an end. The temperatures outside had dropped considerably, and Éponine desperately wished Enjolras could be there to hold her through the coming winter nights. She missed him terribly, and it was killing her.

She still remembered their last time together.

* * *

_“’Jolras!” Éponine shrieked with laughter when he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and lifted her up, twirling her around in the sunshine. It was a gorgeous spring morning, and Enjolras had decided to take Éponine on a stroll through Central Park, wanting to make the most of their short time together. In just five days’ time, she’d have to leave for Paris again, and they were absolutely determined to make the most of every second._

_Laughing, he put her down, completely disregarding the strange looks they got from passersby. “I missed you so much, ’Ponine,” he told her as she turned around to face him. She pulled him into a hug, burying her face in his chest as she held him tightly, never wanting to let go._

_“I missed you too,” she mumbled into his chest as he kissed the top of her head. “God, it’s been so long since we were together in person.”_

_“Too long,” he agreed, letting go of her and taking her hand in his, continuing their stroll through Central Park. Éponine kept pointing out various landmarks, asking him which was which, a massive grin on her face._

_“I can’t wait to see Waitress,” she mused, mostly to herself. Just yesterday, three days after she arrived in New York, they had seen Great Comet, and Enjolras couldn’t quite remember the last time he had seen her that delighted. They were supposed to be seeing Waitress tomorrow, and Éponine was clearly extremely excited about that._

_“It’ll be great,” Enjolras promised her, having seen the show once. “I promise.”_

_“I know it will,” she replied, turning to face him and sliding her arms up around his neck, pulling him into a kiss. He was more than eager to return it, having craved her touch for a long, long time. For once, their distaste for PDA was thrown out the window, and they stood there in the middle of the Central Park Mall, locked in a close embrace. Their breathing was rather shallow by the time they broke apart, his blue eyes finding her brown. She traced his jawline with one small hand, murmuring, “God, I missed kissing you.”_

_“Same here,” he replied in a low voice, pulling her back into a kiss. She sighed against his lips, her hand sliding up into his golden curls as he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, pulling her flush against him. They were vaguely aware of the fact that there was probably at least one passerby looking at them, but in that moment, they didn’t care—all they cared about was holding each other close, glad to be in each other’s warm embrace after countless months._

_When they broke apart, he leaned in so their foreheads brushed, laughing slightly. “I love you,_ mon ange _."_

_She didn’t hesitate to reply, automatically responding, “I love you, too.”_

_The couple laced their fingers together once again and strolled towards the fountain in Bethesda Terrace, taking in the sights around them. “You’re so lucky,” Éponine remarked, utterly enchanted by the city. “What I wouldn’t give to live here…”_

_“Everything’s better with you here,” Enjolras told her, kissing her temple. “But don’t you want to chase your dream? You’re so close to getting admitted into the Paris Opera Ballet Company, and I wouldn’t want you to give up your dream for me.”_

_“That’s true,” she said, looking up at the blue sky. “But the New York City Ballet seems pretty fantastic as well.”_

_“It’s not as prestigious as the Paris Opera Ballet, though,” he reminded her, squeezing her hand. “You don’t have to give up your dream for me, ’Ponine.”_

_A soft, dimpled smile lit up her face as she willed herself not to burst into tears at the thought of how lucky she had been to fall in love with him._

_“You’ll move back to Paris though, right?” Éponine asked rather anxiously, stopping in front of the fountain and sitting down at the edge, prompting him to do the same._

_“Of course,” Enjolras replied, leaning in to kiss her forehead. “And before you say anything, I promise that that’s what I’ve intended to do from the start. I just wanted to attend school here, to get a taste of American culture.”_

_“More like lack thereof,” she quipped, grinning. When he gave her a look, she exclaimed, “What? It’s true! I mean, yes, I suppose America does have a culture, but that culture is just a blend of countless other cultures!” After a few moments of contemplation, she shouted out, "American football and junk food!_ That's _American culture!"_

 _“You’re adorable,” he commented affectionately, pulling her into another hug. She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder._ How did this guy ever fall for an idiot like me?

_When she had pulled away from the hug, she fished her phone out of her pocket. “I think it’s time I changed the picture in this thing,” she told him, fiddling with her locket. “Shall we?”_

_After a couple of badly taken selfies, Éponine gave up and went up to some tourist, asking them sweetly if they could please take a picture of her and Enjolras at the fountain. After taking several pictures, the tourist handed her phone back to her and she marvelled at the quality of the images, commenting rather drily, “Well, these are infinitely better than those selfies we took.”_

_Enjolras pressed an affectionate kiss to her temple, murmuring, “I love you.”_

* * *

“I can’t wait to see you,” Éponine whispered to the computer screen, a sad little smile on her face.

“Neither can I,” Enjolras replied softly. He became rather alarmed when tears filled Éponine’s eyes, and he immediately told her, “No, ’Ponine, please don’t cry. Please.” If there was one thing he hated besides the GOP, it was seeing her cry.

“I can’t help it,” she replied, her voice breaking on the last two words. “I miss you so much, ’Jolras.”

“So do I,” he reassured her, on the verge of crying himself. “’Ponine, I promise we’ll be together again one day. Even if it takes years, we will.”

“I wish it would take less than years, though,” Éponine murmured, her bottom lip quivering as she fought to hold back tears.

“Just two more years, ’Ponine,” Enjolras told her comfortingly. “Two more years and I’ll be done with law school, and then I’ll go back to Paris and we’ll move in together.”

She looked up, her deep brown eyes widening. “We will?”

“Yes, we will,” he confirmed. “I’ll find us a place. We’ll move in together, and then we’ll see where life takes us after that.”

It was getting late, and as much as she hated to do it, she knew they’d have to end the Skype call eventually. She gazed at him through watery eyes, telling him, “I love you, you know that?”

He smiled, a silent encouragement for her to stay strong. “I love you, too.”

* * *

Éponine sat on her bed, restless and bored out of her mind. It was particularly cold out that December day—snow had begun falling last night and now piled up on the streets. She was lonely, and for once, she hadn’t Skyped with Enjolras after he told her he had somewhere important to go. As a result, she was rather miserable, and it didn’t help that most of the Amis had gone on holiday, so there was loneliness to add to her misery.

Her phone chimed beside her and she immediately picked it up, finding a text from Grantaire. **how r u?**

Unaware of the sad little smile on her face, she texted back, **not doing so well.**

 **is it enj?** Grantaire texted. **where is he?**

 **no idea** , Éponine replied, putting the phone down when she saw that Grantaire had gone offline and sighing loudly, wrapping her blanket tighter around herself. Her eyes drifted to the countless photographs on the wall, and it tugged at her heartstrings to look at the numerous pictures of her and Enjolras amongst the others.

 _’Jolras, where are you?_ she wondered ruefully, on the verge of tears. She missed him so much, it was painful.

She opened her locket and gazed inside, remembering the wonderful time she had had in New York with him last spring, and it only made her want to cry even more, wishing she was with him right now. She connected her phone to her little Bose speaker to turn on the playlist he had made for her as she looked at the photographs on the wall, willing herself not to cry. That immediately failed when Ed Sheeran’s “Photograph” began to play, and she burst into tears, wrapping the blanket around herself and shaking with sobs.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

She looked up, hastily wiping away her tears with her blanket. Who could have come without telling her? She knew that Grantaire and her siblings had a habit of showing up unannounced, but Azelma had left Paris to go to Spain with Courfeyrac and Combeferre while Gavroche was staying with Grantaire for some time.

She put on an oversized hoodie she had stolen from Enjolras in an attempt to get warmer as she walked through her apartment to open the door for whomever had come to see her, dragging her feet along as she did so. She paused in the hallway to the door for a moment to gaze at the framed picture of her and Enjolras together at Marius and Cosette’s wedding, rather distracted until the doorbell rang again. Jumping as she was snapped out of her trance, she hurried to the door, looking in the hallway mirror to make sure it wasn’t obvious that she had been crying.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, and her breath caught in her throat.

Standing there at the door, wearing a thick black winter coat, a burgundy scarf, boots, and a grey beanie pulled over his golden curls, was Enjolras.

Falling silent, she stared at him in shock for quite a few moments, actually pinching herself to make sure she wasn’t just dreaming. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again to find him still standing there, and she could barely contain her disbelief as she continued to stare at him in silence.

“Hi.” At long last, Enjolras broke the silence.

Éponine blinked a few times before instinctively throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder, still trying to process everything and willing herself not to cry all over again. Enjolras tensed up for a millisecond before wrapping his arms tightly around her, pulling her as close as physically possible to him, burying his face in her thick dark hair, breathing in the sweet scent of her lavender rosemary shampoo. After God knows how long, she pulled away from the hug, her hands reaching up to cup his face, tears filling her eyes as her thumb caressed his cheek.

“Hey,” he whispered in greeting, leaning in to kiss her. She melted into him as he wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, passionate and hungry and desperate, her hands dropping from his face so she could move her arms around his neck, holding him close, kissing like it was their last. In a way, it kind of was.

Giggling through the tears when they broke apart, she breathed back, “Hey.”

**Author's Note:**

> "andrei, where are you?" but andrei's name is replaced by 'jolras
> 
> i hope you liked it! this is my personal favourite out of all the one-shots i've written, actually
> 
> comments/kudos are greatly appreciated!


End file.
